The second part of the History Channel’s World Wars covers the period from the Armistice up until just before Pearl Harbor. As a couple of the comments pointed out, there were inaccuracies in the vehicles and equipment shown, as well as the uniforms. (At one point the Germans were bombing Poland with what looked like B-17s, or with the Ju 52 tri motor, which was mostly a passenger/transport.) But once again, these are minor inconsistencies. The real misleading parts were elsewhere. In the segment on the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz, the show implied that the Germans went after London from the beginning, but the decision to bomb London only came after two months of the Germans unsuccessfully trying to gain air superiority by attacking the Royal Air Force.

When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union, we are told, Stalin stood firm. “If the Germans wanted a fight, he would give them one.” No mention is made of the fact that far from being defiant, Stalin was paralyzed with confusion and indecision for days when the Germans attacked and the Soviet forces melted before them. He wasn’t even able to address the nation; Molotov went on the radio instead. At one point, Stalin retreated to his dacha, expecting to be purged for his failure. Fortunately for him, he had purged anyone who might have had the daring to challenge him, and he recovered. Unfortunately for him, his purges had also included much of the Soviet army’s senior officer corps and the Red Army was staffed with inexperienced. newly promoted junior officers selected for political reliability rather than competence.

Anyway, I recorded the final episode and will watch it tonight, sans commercials. I can hardly wait to see how the war turns out.